Complications - Single

Age of Silence are nothing if not honest about their plans, giving the name Complications: Trilogy of Intricacy to this EP, the follow-up to their ambitious prog metal debut, Acceleration. Yes, it's a concept EP and it's intricate, although Age of Silence aren't "progressive" in that Dream Theater instrumental showboating sense — but rather in the way they mix disparate musical styles into their songs. These contain elements of death metal, ambient music, jazz, pop, you name it (the preposterously named "The Idea of Independence and the Reason Why It's Austere" climaxes in a very cool splash of Spanish guitar), and are generally performed at a patient, deliberate pace that may keep more extreme metal heads at bay. If not, additional thought-provoking song titles such as "Mr. M, Man of Muzak" and " Vouchers, Coupons and the End of a Shopping Session" probably will. But with vocalist Lazare (aka Lars Nedland of Borknagar) sounding like a less strident version of Yes' Jon Anderson, it's probably progressive rock fans who will feel right at home with this release.